Ensuring Feijoa Fruit

Feijoa iS11370452M.jpg

Ensuring Feijoa Fruit

I have three seven-year-old feijoa trees that were shaded by a large walnut tree. They are quite straggly and have never had more than a couple of flowers. The walnut next door has been trimmed, but what can I now do to ensure some good fruit?

There is some debate, but walnut trees can affect neighbouring plants. Walnut leaves on the ground produce a certain amount of toxicity making it difficult to grow plants under or around the tree’s drip-line (the outer circumference of the tree’s branches), and this could be a cause of the problem. 

What type of feijoa are you growing? If they are a modern cutting or grafted plant they typically produce fruit after the third year, but if they have been grown from seed it’s harder to predict - however you should have seen some fruit by now. Consider starting again in a different site away from the walnut tree, with modern cutting or grafted plants. Growing a named variety such as Apollo or Gemini will guarantee you a crop of healthy, large sized fruit. 

Now is a good time to plant feijoa trees; choose a nice sunny site with well drained soil. Dig a hole and mix in Daltons Compost or Daltons Garden Mix. Make a mound at the bottom of the hole where the root ball will sit. Plant the tree and ensure it sits in the ground with the base of the stem slightly higher than ground level to prevent water pooling around the trunk. Add a layer of Daltons Garden Mulch & Grow on top. Feijoas are heavy feeders and respond to regular fertilising with Daltons incredible edibles® Fruit Tree & Berry Fertiliser in late winter/early spring.

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